Are Israeli Courts Paperless? 1.8 Million of 2.6 Million Files Opened Manually
The State Comptroller counted 1.8 million of 2.6 million court files opened manually across 2017 to 2019, and 53 million documents mailed.
1.8 million of 2.6 million court files were opened manually across 2017 to 2019, which the State Comptroller of Israel reported as about 70% in a 2022 audit of the Legal-Net case management system used by Israel’s courts. The same audit counted 53 million documents mailed and put the postage bill at NIS 28 million a year. Every count here is the Comptroller’s own, produced by Israel’s state audit institution examining the Courts Administration, and the file-opening counts stop at 2019.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 1.8 million of 2.6 million | Case files opened manually rather than through Legal-Net, about 70% | 2017 to 2019 |
| 95% | Share of about 950,000 filings by government bodies that were manual | As at the audit |
| 53 million | Documents mailed | As at the audit |
| NIS 28 million a year | Postage for those mailings | As at the audit |
| 2 of 8 | Major bodies with an automated interface to the system | As at the audit |
| About 900,000 | Proceedings unpublished | As at the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, chapter 304, Management of Court Processes Through the Legal-Net System, 2022. The figures are the Comptroller’s own counts of the Courts Administration, published as an English abstract.
1.8 million of 2.6 million files were opened manually
The State Comptroller of Israel counted 2.6 million case files opened across 2017 to 2019 and recorded 1.8 million of them, about 70%, as opened manually rather than through Legal-Net. The count is the Comptroller’s own, taken from an audit of the Courts Administration over that three-year window, and it counts file openings rather than what happens to a file after it is open. The audit prints no figure for any year after 2019.
95% of about 950,000 government filings arrived manually
The State Comptroller reported that 95% of about 950,000 filings by government bodies were manual, a share of filings by the state rather than of all filings. That figure and the about 70% above are the Comptroller’s own counts, and they rest on different bases, so they are two measurements and not one series.
53 million documents mailed, at NIS 28 million a year
The State Comptroller counted 53 million documents mailed and recorded two annual costs beside it: NIS 28 million in postage and NIS 40 million in maintaining the system. Those are running costs of different things and the audit prints no net figure. The audit also estimates a saving of about 1 million work-hours a year as available, which is the Comptroller’s own estimate rather than a measured loss.
- NIS 40 million a year, Legal-Net system maintenance, as at the audit.
- About 1 million work-hours a year, the saving the audit estimates as available, as at the audit.
- In a separate 2022 chapter, on the Israel Police and the Office of the State Attorney rather than the courts, the State Comptroller of Israel found that closure notices went by regular post with no record of delivery, and that no notice was sent in 30% to 40% of closed files.
2 of 8 major bodies and 7 of 57 interfaces automated
The State Comptroller counted 2 of 8 major bodies and 7 of 57 interfaces as automated, and recorded about 900,000 proceedings unpublished. A further 321,000 proceedings were classified, which the audit treats as a separate category from the unpublished ones. Each count in the table below is the Comptroller’s own, from the same 2022 chapter.
| Figure | What it counts | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 7 of 57 | Interfaces automated | As at the audit |
| 4 of 20 | Local Affairs courts unconnected to the system | As at the audit |
| 321,000 | Proceedings classified, a category separate from the unpublished ones | As at the audit |
| 280 of about 750 | Judges trained on privacy | As at the audit |
Source: State Comptroller of Israel, Management of Court Processes Through the Legal-Net System, 2022.
No Israeli body here publishes a manual-filing figure after 2019
The State Comptroller’s manual-filing counts cover 2017 to 2019 and the chapter carries no later series. No figure for retrievals of physical files from court archives appears in the Israeli publications used on this page, and none is supplied here.
Court records from before the system exists in digitised form in places. The Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, with Adam Raz, publishes the full transcripts of 100 sessions of the Kafr Qasim trial held between March 1957 and January 1958, after the Military Court of Appeals granted disclosure of hundreds of sealed transcript pages on the institute’s application. Akevot is the archive publishing that record; the record itself is the Israeli military court’s.
Which figures here may not be added together?
- The about 70% and the 95% have different bases, 2.6 million file openings and about 950,000 government filings, and are not one series.
- NIS 28 million in postage and NIS 40 million in maintenance are annual costs of different things, and the audit prints no net saving.
- The about 900,000 unpublished proceedings and the 321,000 classified proceedings are separate categories and are not summed.
- The Closing Criminal Files chapter audits the Israel Police and the Office of the State Attorney, not the courts, so its counts belong to a different universe.
- The about 1 million work-hours is the Comptroller’s estimate of a saving available, not a measured figure.
Questions readers ask
What is Legal-Net?
The State Comptroller of Israel published a 2022 audit of Legal-Net, the case management system through which Israel’s courts open and handle case files.
How many court files were opened manually?
The State Comptroller of Israel counted 1.8 million of 2.6 million files, about 70%, opened manually across 2017 to 2019.
Which filers were most often manual?
The State Comptroller reported that 95% of about 950,000 filings by government bodies were manual.
How much did mailing cost?
The State Comptroller recorded 53 million documents mailed and put postage at NIS 28 million a year.
Does the postage figure offset the system’s cost?
The State Comptroller reported NIS 28 million a year in postage and NIS 40 million a year in maintenance as separate costs of different things, and printed no net figure.
How many bodies were connected automatically?
The State Comptroller counted 2 of 8 major bodies and 7 of 57 interfaces automated.
Were all courts connected?
The State Comptroller recorded 4 of 20 Local Affairs courts as unconnected to the system.
How many proceedings went unpublished?
The State Comptroller counted about 900,000 proceedings unpublished, with 321,000 classified proceedings recorded as a separate category.
How many judges had privacy training?
The State Comptroller counted 280 of about 750 judges trained on privacy.
Do these figures cover 2020 onward?
The State Comptroller published file-opening counts for 2017 to 2019 in this chapter and no later series appears in it.
Does the Israel Police hold digital data on file closures?
In a separate 2022 chapter, the State Comptroller of Israel found that the computerised systems of the Israel Police Research and Statistics Department hold no data on files closed on the ground of lack of guilt.
Where can an older court record be read?
The Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research publishes digitised transcripts of the Kafr Qasim trial sessions held between March 1957 and January 1958.
Sources
- Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research, with Adam Raz, 2019 (ongoing). Kafr Qasim Massacre: Document Library. kafr-qasim-massacre.akevot.org.il. Research and archive institute publishing the primary trial record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Closing Criminal Files by the Israel Police and the Office of the State Attorney. State Comptroller Report, May 2022, Chapter One. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
- State Comptroller of Israel, 2022. Management of Court Processes Through the Legal-Net System. Chapter 304, Courts Administration, English abstract, 12 pages. library.mevaker.gov.il. Official or primary record.
